Desk open between 1300BST/0700CDT to 1615BST/1015CDT on Good Friday (3rd April) in order to cover the release of US Non-farm Payrolls (skeletal service)

There will be no Asia-Pacific service on Sunday 5th April 2015

Normal service will resume at 1200BST/0600CDT on Easter Monday 6th April 2015 in order to cover the US session as normal. UK & European markets close

Market closures & desk opening hours

3rd April (Good Friday) – Desk open between 1300BST/0700CDT to 1615BST/1015CDT in order to cover the release of US Non-farm Payrolls (skeletal service)

FLOOR TRADE:

CME/CBOT: Interest Rate/FX – Early close at 1600BST/1000CDT (CBOT Pit open at 1320BST/0720CDT as usual); Commodities/Equities – Closed

COMEX: Closed

NYMEX: Closed

NYSE: Closed

ELECTRONIC TRADE:

CME Globex: Equities – Early close at 1415BST/0815CDT (Electronic trade opens the previous night at 2300BST/1700CDT as usual); Interest Rate/FX – Early close at 1615BST/1015CDT; Commodities – Closed

NYMEX: Closed

ICE (UK): Closed

Eurex (EU): Closed

ASIAN BOURSES:

Shanghai Composite (CH): Regular Close

Tokyo Stock Exchange (JN): Regular Close

KOSPI (SK): Regular Close

Hang Seng (HK): Closed

ASX 200 (AU): Closed

Bombay Stock Exchange (IN): Closed

Straits Times Index (SI): Closed

TAIEX (TA): Closed

4th & 5th April – Desk Closed for the weekend (No Asia-Pac service on Sunday evening)

6th April (Easter Monday) – Desk to re-open at 1200BST/0600CDT in order to cover the US session as normal. UK & European markets closed. Main data releases are Markit US Service PMI & ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite

European indices traded mostly lower after trimming their best Q1 gains in 17 years. Stocks trended downwards throughout the European morning amid disappointing Eurozone Core CPI and Unemployment figures, with automakers underperforming and energy names coming under sustained pressure. The FTSE-100 was the session’s notable laggard amid lower commodity prices and continued political uncertainty, however pared back losses along with its fellow indices following US data. Despite Chicago Purchasing Manager (-0.1% vs Exp. -0.2%) coming in at the lower end of estimates, leading the USD to hold firmly below its best levels of the day, Consumer Confidence (101.3 vs. Exp. 96.4) posted a strong beat on expectations, boosting equities on both sides of the pond, helped WTI crude futures pare back most of the day’s losses.

In terms of fixed income, Bunds and Gilts have been well supported from the get-go alongside the weakness seen in European equities, while the GR/GE spread was seen wider by over 29bps amid uninspiring comments out of Athens, which suggest talks between Greece and its European creditors will have to continue well into April.

FX price action has been dominated by the USD, which extended on recent gains and saw the USD-index break firmly above the 98.00 handle. As such, the EUR was the notable laggard throughout the session, with downbeat Eurozone data, continuing concerns over Greece and month and quarter-end rebalancing all weighing on the shared currency. Amid the weakness seen in commodities and the broad-based USD strength, USD/CAD had traded gradually higher. However, following the slight beat in Canadian GDP and the USD coming off its best levels, the pair erased the brunt of the day’s gains to break below 1.2700. Alongside rebalancing demand in USD losing steam, major pairs came off their worst levels, with GBP and CAD among the biggest to benefit.

Brent and WTI crude futures languished firmly in negative territory amid USD strength and increased efforts by Iran and Western powers to reach a preliminary agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. However, comments later in the session suggesting that negotiations had slowed down saw WTI prices pull away from their lowest levels as it would reduce the risk of Iran flooding the beleaguered energy market with an extra surge in supplies. Focus now shifts to the API release after-market and tomorrow’s DoE release, which is expected to show a build of 4.5mln bpd.

Tomorrow's Calendar gives a look ahead to tomorrow’s key economic data, central bank speakers, government bond auctions, expires and holidays for the G7 and beyond. If you would like to upgrade your account to receive access to this report please contact us at admin@ransquawk.com.

The USD-index extended its recent upward trend after breaking above the 50% Fib retracement of the pre-FOMC high to recent low in early European trade, with quarter and month-end demand said to be adding to the upside. Consequently, EUR tumbled against the USD however found support around the 1.0700 level, with lingering concerns over Greece’s liquidity issues and the slight miss on Eurozone Core CPI (0.6% vs. Exp. 0.7%) offsetting the positive German Unemployment figures (6.4% vs. Exp. 6.5%). Amid the strength in the USD and today’s deadline for reaching a preliminary deal on Iran’s nuclear program, oil prices slumped throughout most of the session, weighing on commodity-linked currencies, including CAD. However, USD/CAD pared a sizeable part of gains amid the better-than-expected Canadian GDP (-0.1% vs Exp. -0.2%), with a slight rebound in WTI added further strength to CAD. Analysts also note that moves in equities today could lead to selling pressure in CAD, EUR and GBP in Q-end, whereas USD/JPY could see a small bid as >USD 500mln is expected to be bought in the pair. This was something that was observed throughout the session but heading into the European close the USD-index began to move lower, providing a boost to its major counterparts, notably GBP, with GBP breaking above 1.4850 as some of the month-end demand that had been supporting USD began to abate.

Looking ahead, tomorrow sees Chinese Manufacturing PMI, HSBC Manufacturing PMI, and a host of Eurozone Manufacturing PMIs, while across the Atlantic the US is due to release ADP Employment Change, Manufacturing PMI and DoE Crude Inventories. In terms of speakers, Fed’s Williams and Lockhart are both due on the slate, while the German 2020 Bond Auction will provide the main fixed income release of the session.

The USD-index extended its recent upward trend after breaking above the 50% Fib retracement of the pre-FOMC high to recent low in early European trade, with quarter and month-end demand said to be adding to the upside. Consequently, EUR tumbled against the USD however found support around the 1.0700 level, with lingering concerns over Greece’s liquidity issues and the slight miss on Eurozone Core CPI (0.6% vs. Exp. 0.7%) offsetting the positive German Unemployment figures (6.4% vs. Exp. 6.5%). Amid the strength in the USD and today’s deadline for reaching a preliminary deal on Iran’s nuclear program, oil prices slumped throughout most of the session, weighing on commodity-linked currencies, including CAD. However, USD/CAD pared a sizeable part of gains amid the better-than-expected Canadian GDP (-0.1% vs Exp. -0.2%), with a slight rebound in WTI added further strength to CAD. Analysts also note that moves in equities today could lead to selling pressure in CAD, EUR and GBP in Q-end, whereas USD/JPY could see a small bid as >USD 500mln is expected to be bought in the pair. This was something that was observed throughout the session but heading into the European close the USD-index began to move lower, providing a boost to its major counterparts, notably GBP, with GBP breaking above 1.4850 as some of the month-end demand that had been supporting USD began to abate.

Looking ahead, tomorrow sees Chinese Manufacturing PMI, HSBC Manufacturing PMI, and a host of Eurozone Manufacturing PMIs, while across the Atlantic the US is due to release ADP Employment Change, Manufacturing PMI and DoE Crude Inventories. In terms of speakers, Fed’s Williams and Lockhart are both due on the slate, while the German 2020 Bond Auction will provide the main fixed income release of the session.